NGOs, UN agencies and development work

A sector with its own rules

Non-governmental organisations, international agencies and donor-funded programmes are large employers in Kenya, from community organisations in Turkana to regional offices in Gigiri. They hire for programmes (health, education, livelihoods, governance, humanitarian response) and for the functions that run them (finance, grants, logistics, monitoring and evaluation, communications, human resources).

Three things make the sector different:

• Funding drives hiring. Jobs appear when a grant is won and often end when it does. Fixed-term contracts of one to three years are normal, and renewals depend on the next funding round. Ask about this in interviews; it is a fair question.
• Process is formal. Many organisations use structured application forms, competency-based interviews with a scoring grid, written tests, and reference checks before any offer. Safeguarding checks (child protection, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse) are standard for many roles.
• Language matters. Postings use the sector's vocabulary: results frameworks, logframes, theories of change, donor compliance, beneficiaries, accountability to affected populations. Use the terms where you genuinely have the experience; a panel will test them.

Where the jobs are

• The organisations' own career pages, which usually list every vacancy.
• Sector boards and mailing lists that aggregate development jobs in East Africa.
• Agency portals for UN and multilateral bodies, which often require you to complete a profile or personal history form once and reuse it.
• Donor and consortium websites, where programme roles for implementing partners are sometimes advertised.
• Professional networks: monitoring and evaluation, grants and finance communities share openings constantly.

What applications expect

• A CV that shows programme scale (budget size, number of beneficiaries, counties covered, donors worked with) and compliance experience (donor reporting, audits, procurement rules).
• A cover letter that answers the stated competencies one by one, in the order the posting lists them.
• Exact adherence to instructions: file names, subject lines, forms attached. Many organisations screen on this.
• Referees who can speak to recent work; some require your current or last supervisor.

Breaking in

If you have no sector experience, start where the sector meets your skill: an accountant can enter through grants finance; a nurse through community health programmes; a data analyst through monitoring and evaluation. Short courses on donor compliance or M&E, volunteer work with a local organisation, and enumerator or short-term consultancy work are recognised stepping stones.